John J. Cecero, S.J.

Vice President for Mission Integration and Ministry

John J. Cecero, S.J., was appointed vice president for mission integration and ministry at Fordham in summer 2021, following six years of service as the provincial of the USA Northeast Province of the Society of Jesus. He is also a tenured member of the psychology department at Fordham, having served as an associate professor from 1998 to 2013. In his current role, he is responsible for the advancement of the Jesuit and Catholic mission of the University, in collaboration with other campus units. The Office of Campus Ministry, the Center for Community Engaged Learning, and the Center on Religion and Culture report to him.

A native of Philadelphia, Father Cecero entered the Society of Jesus immediately following graduation from St. Joseph’s Prep. He received an Honors Bachelor of Arts degree in French and philosophy from Gonzaga University in May 1982, followed by Master of Divinity (1988) and Master of Theology (1989) degrees from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology (now Boston College School of Theology and Ministry). He was ordained to the priesthood on June 10, 1989.

Father Cecero then pursued doctoral studies in clinical psychology at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and at the completion of a one-year clinical internship at the Boston VA Hospital, he was awarded a Ph.D. in 1996. Following a two-year postdoctoral research fellowship in substance abuse treatments at Yale University’s Department of Psychiatry, he came to Fordham as a professor of psychology and rector of the Fordham Jesuit Community (2007 to 2013). He was a member of the Fordham Board of Trustees from 2008 to 2014, and served as chair of its mission and identity committee.

In addition to maintaining a part-time psychotherapy practice, he has given numerous workshops and presentations on spirituality, mental health, and inspirational leadership to clergy and religious. He has published widely on lifetrap theory and practice, and he is the author of Praying Through Our Lifetraps: A Psycho-Spiritual Path to Freedom, a book-length guide published in 2002 by Resurrection Press. He is also the author of a series of audio presentations that were produced in 2009 under the title Spirituality, Psychology and Virtue: A Catholic’s Guide to a Flourishing Life.